What do Zappos, Ben and Jerry’s, and Southwest Airlines have in common? They are all financially successful, values-driven companies.

A lot of companies claim to be values-driven. They publish their values and use them in marketing messages. However, this does not necessarily mean their values guide decision-making and behaviors company-wide on a day-by-day basis.

To know for sure, you can investigate whether leadership practices and company policies are aligned with their published vision and values. But there’s a simpler and quicker way to tell: pay attention to your own experience as a customer.

Here are five quick ways you can tell if an organization is really values-driven.

If you haven’t communicated with a client or colleague in another country recently, chances are you will do so soon. Technology and our global economy have shrunk our geographical boundaries.

Developing a global customer-centered approach to communication is essential for establishing respectful and productive working relationships.

This can be particularly challenging for those in the United States, where we are so used to seeing ourselves as the center of the world that we don’t even realize we have that attitude.

If you are from the United States (or any country), here are eight simple things you can do in your initial communications with clients and colleagues in other countries to demonstrate you have a customer-centered viewpoint.

Mary Parker Follett, a pioneering business consultant, was asked to help a troubled window shade company. The company’s thinking was narrow and limited. When asked to define their business, they said, “We produce window shades.”

She asked them “What business are you really in from your customer’s point of view?” In other words, why do people buy window shades?

They realized they were really in the light control and privacy business. They turned their business around by developing creative ways to control light and create privacy for windows.